Wario was cooler when he gave me nightmares

[billy chilly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhB8XG9_5Rc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oFczADqrGU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvnyAYcdxYo&feature=related

So yeah comparing THAT Wario to today's, it's safe to say our man Wario's undergone a little villain decay (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay).  How do you feel about this?  Villain decay or no, Wario's by far one of my favorite characters, but after beating Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land, I was left yearning for the cackling maniac of yore. 

The upside is that he's still a gross, greedy, narcissistic con man, so it's not like the character's been completely changed.  I just miss his villainy/anti-heroics.  The other upside is that this toned-down Wario has not one, but two series (Wario Land and Wario Ware), plus some prestigious guest spots (Mario sports games, all but the first Mario Kart, and finally made into Smash Bros. with Brawl).  I get the feeling that if he was still as scary and possibly evil as he used to be depicted, he probably wouldn't have the appeal to headline two different series. 

The downside is that I think this change in tone has led the Wario Land series astray.  A big part of the fun of the first two (and best two, in my opinion) is the atmosphere and character of the games.  You're playing a villain (or at best, anti-hero) and the environments, NPCs, story and gameplay all reflect that.  In the first two Wario Land games Wario is strictly out to steal more treasure or get revenge... usually both.  But in the later games, yeah he's hunting for treasure, and he's only doing good to increase his own wealth, but the scenarios he was plopped into could have fit almost any character.  They felt a lot more generic.  They're still fine games for the most part, but that Wario personality seems to have slipped away a little bit.

[BP]

I don't think of him as much of a villain. He does what he wants in hopes that he can obtain money.

It would be fun to see him as a talkative one-level boss in a main game whose only motive is to mess around with Mario and take a power star to sell it, but we know how Nintendo is when it comes to characters saying words

[The Chef]

I wanna see how Intellegent Systems or AlphaDream would handle him in one of their RPGs.

[PaperLuigi]

Correction: Wario is cool because of the Wario Ware games.

Seriously, these games are friggin' awesome and they cemented Wario's character as a "not-really-a-villain-but-still-a-huge-jerk" kinda guy.

[Toad]

Seriously, these games are friggin' awesome and they cemented Wario's character as a "not-really-a-villain-but-still-a-huge-jerk" kinda guy.

I agree. He's still treasure hunter either way: He makes cheap games or he's in cheap games. (Hurrr. Not really..)

[Kimimaru]

But in the later games, yeah he's hunting for treasure, and he's only doing good to increase his own wealth, but the scenarios he was plopped into could have fit almost any character.  They felt a lot more generic.  They're still fine games for the most part, but that Wario personality seems to have slipped away a little bit.

I disagree with this. In Wario Land 4, Wario's only incentive to go to the pyramid is the possible treasure found in there. He didn't care about the risks involved; he just went.